Just three months ago, on November 16, 2017, a new feed production plant opened in Carrefour's Abraham terminal. In this plant, 14 varieties of food are produced taking into account the three stages of the animal's life. The aim is to boost the livestock market in the country, which, according to more than one, is a prime economic activity for a sizable segment of the population.

The Haitian Livestock Feed Company (SHAB) is the name of the factory that has just established itself in the Haitian environment. It takes care of the food of broilers, layers, pigs and goats. The main raw materials used in food production are corn and soybeans. The mixture is made to measure and concerns large and small breeders. According to factory officials, everything is carefully calculated to offer diversified varieties of food. In order to better serve the sub-sector, a service composed of several veterinarians is created to help breeders.

With such a structure, in the opinion of Andrea Agostinelli, the plant manager, breeders will easily differentiate between traditional, artisanal and improved breeding. The factory he heads, he says, is very modern. I has the ability to accurately mix one kilo per thousand. This can cause the rejection of the mixture by hand, a process that can lead to calibration errors that can be detrimental to production with yield losses, so economic losses.

The plant has the capacity to produce 6.5 tons of food per hour of production. Depending on the volume of requests, the manager can easily double or triple his capacity. It's not yet the case. For the moment, production only concerns the local market. The managers plan to work with the breeders' associations to help them better understand the susceptibilities of breeding. According to Agostinelli, this is a very profitable market. But it is especially a market to develop, in the opinion of Jean Elise David, the assistant coordinator of the unit for the promotion of private investment in the agricultural sector (UPISA).

Sustained emphasis is placed on poultry production. In this sub-sector, despite the multiple efforts of the last ten years in this field, Haiti imports eggs worth US $ 50 million a year and chunks of frozen chickens estimated at 65 million (François Dagenais et al, 2015). . Referring to the General Agricultural Census (AGR, 2008/2009) and the current average prices of farmed animals, the economic heritage represented by livestock is estimated at more than 54 billion gourdes, or more than 800 million USD. This explains why there is a strong economic potential in this activity.

In many developing countries, livestock fulfill many functions in family life. According to FAO, beyond its direct role in food production and income generation, livestock is a valuable asset for pastoralists because it serves both as a store of wealth, as a deposit to obtain credit, and safety net to deal with crises. The creation of food production plants is an important element. The first signals, according to SHAB officials, are rather positive.